Artillery Shell Found Near AT&T Park

A general view of McCovey Cove and AT&T Park before Game Four of the NLCS during the 2010 MLB Playoffs between the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies on October 20, 2010 in San Francisco. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The all-clear signal has been given after a suspicious device shut down the area near AT&T Park in San Francisco for nearly four hours Friday, a police spokesman said.

The device was reported at 10:46 a.m. in the 200 block of Channel Street, located just across McCovey Cove from the ballpark, and the all-clear was given some time before 3:20 p.m., police spokesman Carlos Manfredi said.

Construction crews at a site near Indiana and Mariposa streets apparently uncovered the device while sifting through dirt, and transported it to Channel Street, several blocks north, before notifying authorities, Manfredi said.

The 16” tall 7-8” diameter device was described as either a ship-to-ship or ship-to-shore explosive ordnance.

Manfredi said police want to discourage people from transporting a suspicious device that could be explosive.

“As a rule of thumb, if you see something that may go boom, stay away,” he said.

The Police Department’s bomb squad responded and determined the device was an old military-grade artillery shell. Police contacted Travis Air Force Base, which sent technicians to determine the exact nature of the device, Manfredi said.

The incident prompted street closures in the area and the evacuation of two nearby buildings, as well as residents living along the waterfront in houseboats, Manfredi said.

The explosives Experts from Travis Air Force Base determined that the device was inert and posed no immediate danger of exploding and gave the all-clear.

According to police, the crew has since taken the ordnance back to their base so they can analyze it and figure out why it was discovered in San Francisco.

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